2011 PDGA Pro World Disc Golf Championships: Monterey Bay, California

[Nancy Walters]

Today's lengthy report from a day of spectating:...

Thank you! Your observations are much appreciated.

 

[bergdawg]

1. Discgolfplanet's coverage is spotty no question. If you want better, start paying them. Seriously, how can you gripe about something FREE??

For those that don't get it - THAT'S why you're being called entitled. If you want premium it costs money, otherwise don't look the gift horse in the mouth.

This sport will never grow to the mainstream sport most of us want.

 

[JTacoma03]

Being from the Santa Cruz mountains, I would love to see a local like Doss win. No question.
Billings 2nd? :thmbup:

What about a local like Jon Baldwin? He's held a steady 5 stroke lead for 2 days now.

This sport will never grow to the mainstream sport most of us want.

It's easy to naysay, it's much harder to try - to put effort - and to be productive and proactive.

Something I've never understood about people in general - how can you do something day after day and make it such a large part of your life, yet never intend to push the envelope or rise above mediocrity? I mean this in all possible applications.

 

[The Hammer]

This sport will never grow to the mainstream sport most of us want.

Agreed.

For the record, I wouldnt have a problem paying for access to coverage. I did it for The Memorial, and I was in the tournament. The entitlement statement is made out of pure ignorance.

 

[Ripper]

Actually i'm ready to see Anthon throw up a monster 1100 rated round. He seems to thrive in this postion.

Don't doubt the skill. That would be sick but would rather see it from Will, but let's hope it's an exciting finals!

 

[Stud Muffin]

This sport will never grow to the mainstream sport most of us want.

It's easy to naysay, it's much harder to try - to put effort - and to be productive and proactive.

Something I've never understood about people in general - how can you do something day after day and make it such a large part of your life, yet never intend to push the envelope or rise above mediocrity? I mean this in all possible applications.

I dunno.
I have nothing against the sport growing.
But it is kinda cool that it is still a 'alternative/underground' sport. Anyone can like football.

 

[New013]

In perspective, the lowest score today posted was 77 by 3 players.
Doss shot 79.

Hard to catch someone who is playing all around great golf.

yeah but i watched most of the lead card... McCabe missed so many putts he should of made including 3 or 4 that hit chains and bounced out.

Schusterick had cut the lead to two at one point and then for the last 7 or 8 holes he stopped making things happen. On a couple of holes he looked like he was giving up and looked disinterested. He should of kept his momentum going and caught up to Doss.

Billings also missed a lot of crucial putts and a couple of times just made terrible approaches, he also got rattled by the crowd and cell phones on a couple of occasions.

Doss didn't really play that solid of a round, none of them did. I saw a lot of mistakes players of their caliber shouldn't be making. Towards the end of the round Doss caught on and built his lead back up but he's lucky the other guys didn't cash in on his early mistakes.

 

[The Hammer]

My question is why broadcast the USDGC, and The Memorial for two years, yet not your flagship event? How prestigious would the non-discgolfing public think the World Championship is if they don't even webcast it? Hell, the organization that is charged with progressing the sport can't even get the live scoring right. Instead, we have to rely on actual participants and spectators to fill us in.

 

[Big Nasty]

thank you bneely for your great write ups. i cant wait to read your write about about saturday tomorrow night. btw dont worry about the length, i cant get enough

i want to see Bobby win it all but i really want to see Nikko make a run at the end. this is turning out to be great worlds!

 

[Big Nasty]

My question is why broadcast the USDGC, and The Memorial for two years, yet not your flagship event? How prestigious would the non-discgolfing public think the World Championship is if they don't even webcast it? Hell, the organization that is charged with progressing the sport can't even get the live scoring right. Instead, we have to rely on actual participants and spectators to fill us in.

this

 

[The Hammer]

thank you bneely for your great write ups. i cant wait to read your write about about saturday tomorrow night. btw dont worry about the length, i cant get enough

i want to see Bobby win it all but i really want to see Nikko make a run at the end. this is turning out to be great worlds!

True that. I appreciate the write ups, it's good stuff.

 

[New013]

The thing that really stood out to me was the temp holes... through a playground and around a soccer field with the goals still on there. That's cool for local tourneys but when you are trying to show off your biggest event to sponsors and grow the sport... that **** is ridiculous. If I were a sponsor and saw the way the temp holes were set up and how one of the guys on the lead card ended up in a soccer goal I'd just laugh and walk away.

It needs to be more professional than that, if the PDGA wants to be taken seriously they need to step up their game for a tournament of this caliber.

 

[uofc2003]

Semis & Finals for Open

Anyone know whether the 9 temp holes are going to be used tomorrow for the semis or finals? Or will it just be the original Pinto Championship 18?

 

[sactoduck916]

I think the Portland could have a stellar Worlds. you have Pier Park, Milo and the Hornings courses. You could even throw in Trojan Park.

Dela is fabulos but the others i'm not sold on. A lot of wide open holes dont present much challenge. I want to play Pinto Lake, it looks more challenging than Ryan Ranch or CSUMB.

 

[JTacoma03]

yeah but i watched most of the lead card... McCabe missed so many putts he should of made including 3 or 4 that hit chains and bounced out.

Schusterick had cut the lead to two at one point and then for the last 7 or 8 holes he stopped making things happen. On a couple of holes he looked like he was giving up and looked disinterested. He should of kept his momentum going and caught up to Doss.

Billings also missed a lot of crucial putts and a couple of times just made terrible approaches, he also got rattled by the crowd and cell phones on a couple of occasions.

Doss didn't really play that solid of a round, none of them did. I saw a lot of mistakes players of their caliber shouldn't be making. Towards the end of the round Doss caught on and built his lead back up but he's lucky the other guys didn't cash in on his early mistakes.

The thing that really stood out to me was the temp holes... through a playground and around a soccer field with the goals still on there. That's cool for local tourneys but when you are trying to show off your biggest event to sponsors and grow the sport... that **** is ridiculous. If I were a sponsor and saw the way the temp holes were set up and how one of the guys on the lead card ended up in a soccer goal I'd just laugh and walk away.

It needs to be more professional than that, if the PDGA wants to be taken seriously they need to step up their game for a tournament of this caliber.

Ok, man - I'm not trying to pull rank but you're really sounding your "age" (i.e. the 1 year played).

You're completely underestimating Pinto - go play Renny Gold in Charlotte if you haven't already. Pinto is THAT hard if not harder (I'll reserve final judgment for next year's worlds, lol). The temp holes are in the same design scheme as the rest of the course - either short and technical with tons of OB or long and in a spot where the wind really messes with the flight of your disc.

How can you say players aren't playing to their caliber when they're shooting rounds above their ratings with these mistakes that you see? Maybe the answer is the course is just that hard...

Also - the PDGA doesn't run the tournament, please get your facts straight. First I dismiss your idea that temp holes are in any way a negative. In fact most of the players appreciate them because it added birdie opportunities. If you have a tournament where nobody can ever make moves it becomes a stalemate and boring. You can't gridlock the world championship into a "par out and win" situation or nobody will watch it...also Ken Climo would never lose a tournament in that scenario cuz champ just doesn't bogey.

Second, the PDGA doesn't run the tournament so (while I agree telling them to step their side up) you have to translate your argument into something that makes sense which says "Santa Cruz, CA needs to step their game up for this tournament" to which I say you're out of your mind.

How many times does logic neeed to win before people quit bashing from afar using 2% fact?

 

[Big Nasty]

I think the Portland could have a stellar Worlds. you have Pier Park, Milo and the Hornings courses. You could even throw in Trojan Park.

Dela is fabulos but the others i'm not sold on. A lot of wide open holes dont present much challenge. I want to play Pinto Lake, it looks more challenging than Ryan Ranch or CSUMB.

i personally would like to see worlds return to Highbridge

 

[discdoh]

STL in 2016? Would be sweet. Compared - out of the desert and back into the grass...of course no 70 degree weather. The courses here are ready to go though. Bring the extra water bottle and let the battle begin

 

[The Hammer]

The PDGA is the governing body that selects the site of The PDGA World Championships. The should have standards in place. The PDGA needs to have a vision to promote their top tournament. They don't seem to have much interest in actually progressing the sport into the future.

 

[bneely]

You're completely underestimating Pinto... The temp holes are in the same design scheme as the rest of the course - either short and technical with tons of OB or long and in a spot where the wind really messes with the flight of your disc.

How can you say players aren't playing to their caliber when they're shooting rounds above their ratings with these mistakes that you see? Maybe the answer is the course is just that hard...

I definitely second this. The temp holes are slightly easier than the regular 18, but still no pushover.

New013, A sponsor out there who saw the playground or a soccer goal wouldn't walk away thinking things were amateurish- rather, he'd drop his jaw when Eric McCabe threw a drive 460 feet on Hole H, avoiding the soccer goal and the OB left, and then sunk a 45 foot downhill birdie putt into a headwind with a massive gallery watching.

And I also can't agree with the statement that nobody really played a solid round. They left a few strokes out there, sure, but they also made ridiculously hard fairways look very easy, and long(450'+) par 3s look very reachable.

 

[New013]

Ok, man - I'm not trying to pull rank but you're really sounding your "age" (i.e. the 1 year played).

You're completely underestimating Pinto - go play Renny Gold in Charlotte if you haven't already. Pinto is THAT hard if not harder (I'll reserve final judgment for next year's worlds, lol). The temp holes are in the same design scheme as the rest of the course - either short and technical with tons of OB or long and in a spot where the wind really messes with the flight of your disc.

How can you say players aren't playing to their caliber when they're shooting rounds above their ratings with these mistakes that you see? Maybe the answer is the course is just that hard...

Also - the PDGA doesn't run the tournament, please get your facts straight. First I dismiss your idea that temp holes are in any way a negative. In fact most of the players appreciate them because it added birdie opportunities. If you have a tournament where nobody can ever make moves it becomes a stalemate and boring. You can't gridlock the world championship into a "par out and win" situation or nobody will watch it...also Ken Climo would never lose a tournament in that scenario cuz champ just doesn't bogey.

Second, the PDGA doesn't run the tournament so (while I agree telling them to step their side up) you have to translate your argument into something that makes sense which says "Santa Cruz, CA needs to step their game up for this tournament" to which I say you're out of your mind.

How many times does logic neeed to win before people quit bashing from afar using 2% fact?

Wow, bashing how long I've played the sport; never had that happen before. You can say what you want about how I don't know wtf I'm talking about but I watched all the action today, I don't need to play the sport a billion years to know when a guy missed a handfull of putts he should of made. The course has nothing to do with a pro missing putts I see Am's at my local courses hitting more consistently than what McCabe was out there doing today.

At no point did I question how hard this course is, all I'm saying is that from a casual observer the temp holes looked ganked up. If you want sponsors to help propel the sport forward you can't have **** like that. Potential sponsors aren't guys who have been playing disc golf for 5 years, most likely they're people who have never played or played a couple of times. So when they look at stuff like a playground right behind Doss as he's putting they see exactly what I saw, and that's just unprofessional and tacky.

I understand the fact that the PDGA isn't physically out there running the tournament. I've played in more than my fair share of golf tournaments that were supported by the USGA so I understand how it works. Tournaments are ran local clubs and org's but are sanctioned by parent org's like the USGA, PGA and the ...PDGA. Are you going to tell me the PDGA doesn't sanction this event, are you going to tell me they have absolutely zero involvement in this tournament?

As the parent organization they have a responsibility uphold their image and hold these events to a higher standard. I'm not criticizing the hole layout, I'm saying get some guys over there and move the damn soccer goal.